


Georgia on My Mind

by FiveNeedsANap



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29439726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiveNeedsANap/pseuds/FiveNeedsANap
Summary: Five is missing home. Sam has the perfect Valentine’s Day plans.Written for round two of Zombies, Make! Valentine's Day edition.Technically set in season 3, but absolutely zero spoilers, just 5am fluff galore.
Relationships: Runner Five/Sam Yao
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	Georgia on My Mind

Home was a complicated place for Runner Five.

Never mind how far she was from it now, or the fact that she would likely never see it again. When she said home was complicated, she meant even before the world had gone grey.

Childhood had not been a happy time for Five. She’d spent its entirety within the borders of the Peach State; naturally, everything bad felt inextricably linked to it. She’d left Georgia behind without a second thought after high school, convinced it was the right thing to do. She’d never looked back. It was too late before she realized that, for good or for bad, Georgia was a part of her. It had raised her, had shaped who she was, and still held a sizable piece of her heart.

In the summer, Abel and the surrounding countryside could mimic her home state well enough. Open fields, lots of trees, bright sunshine (though it didn’t get nearly as warm here). The familiarity was a comfort.

In the long winter months, however, she found herself pining for a place she hadn’t called home in more than a decade. With the world so cold and grey, it became easier to feel what she’d lost. She shivered in the English cold and longed for the Georgia sun, then immediately felt guilty for thinking of anywhere else as home. Abel was home now. Everything and everyone she had left was here.

On top of her intrusive pining, it was Valentine’s Day. She had forgotten until cards from the other runners turned up on her desk and she realized she had absolutely nothing for her very romantic boyfriend. She’d never been much for the holiday herself. There was too much pressure to get things absolutely right and express your love perfectly on that one day; weren’t you better off spreading that out over the rest of the year? But Sam never missed an opportunity for grand gestures. He had something planned, she was sure of it.

She, on the other hand, was kneeling on Janine’s countertop, digging through cabinets hoping to find a forgotten box of chocolates or something else even remotely Valentine-y.

“I don’t know what you expect to find,” Janine said, watching her in a cross between disdain and amusement. “I’m not the type to keep clutter around.”

“Everyone has random shit shoved in the back of their cabinets that they’ve completely forgotten about.” She turned a packet of hot chocolate over in her hands. “Aha! This might…”

All the powder ran through a tear in the seam.

She threw it behind her and muttered. “God dammit.”

“Can you really not do this without making a mess of my kitchen?”

“I’ll clean it up later.”

“Why don’t you just write him a card or something? Knowing Mr. Yao if you give him anything at all he’ll love it and get all weepy the way he does.”

“Come on, Janine, I can’t half-ass this…more than I already am, I mean. Sam will have something good. Remember Hanukkah? When I told him he didn’t have to get me eight gifts but he still did and then had a Christmas gift on top of it? Or my birthday when he gave me something handmade and perfect? He has something planned, I just know it.”

Janine made a noncommittal noise. Five turned.

“Wait…do you know something?”

“Of course not.”

Janine was good at a great many things; lying was not one of them. Five hopped off the counter.

“Oh my god, you do. He does have something planned. And he got you involved?”

“I am not involved. I simply vetoed an impractical idea.”

“Impractical? Oh no. He’s doing something big. Oh no, oh no, oh no.” She slumped against the counter and buried her face in her hands. “Goooodddd, why did I have to fall for someone who’s so much more romantic than me?”

She had really blown it.

* * *

Five had forgotten about Valentine’s Day. Sam was sure of it.

That made his plan even better.

She’d been quiet and distracted lately, and it wasn’t just the field work that was making her that way. She’d arrived in Abel a year ago next month, which probably meant that this time last year, she’d just arrived at Mullins. She was missing home. She didn’t come right out and say it, that wasn’t her way. But she’d been telling more stories about her childhood lately, talking about her brother and growing up in Georgia. It had been a long time since she’d been home, and Sam was all too happy to alleviate some of that grief.

He’d wanted to use the garden behind the farmhouse until Janine had reminded him how very impractical that would be considering both the weather and his girlfriend’s Southern constitution. There were few options around Abel that included any privacy, so in the end he’d settled on using their own quarters. This made things easier. She’d have to end up here eventually, so there was no need to lure her anywhere, no chance of accidentally blowing the surprise.

He’d convinced Janine to cover the only run today so he could set things up while Five was working. Admittedly, a lot of the set up was putting away his own laundry. If the picnic he’d planned didn’t cheer her up, seeing he’d finally gotten his clothes off the floor probably would.

There wasn’t much space, but Sam made the most of it. He’d borrowed a couple blankets from the hospital and spread them out by the door. Janine had begrudgingly agreed to let him plug in a set of Christmas lights for one hour only (she wouldn’t let him have candles, though). The lights gave the room a warm glow, something like what Sam had seen in photographs of Georgia gardens at night. He’d never been himself, but between the few pictures he’d dug up on Rofflenet and Five’s stories, he thought he had a pretty good idea.

The food was the trickiest part. He didn’t know anything about Southern cooking, let alone how to find passable ingredients for it in the apocalypse. Lucky for him, Jody was more than happy to help him plan a basic picnic menu, and, better still, Ed was working on some moonshine using tinned peaches. That alone felt like fate.

He looked around the room, happy with what he’d put together. He knew his girl was not the type who liked sappy things like Valentine’s Day. She wouldn’t want generic pink hearts and chocolates and flowers. This was personal, something just for her.

He smiled. This was perfect. 

* * *

Five trudged back to their quarters feeling absolutely rotten. Janine hadn’t been kidding about not keeping clutter around. There was not a single usable thing in her kitchen or in the overflow area where they kept excess supplies. Those on kitchen duty had shooed her out before she’d gotten a chance to look. When she’d returned to her office to try to take Janine’s advice and write him something, the only pen left on her desk had run out of ink.

The whole thing felt very much like the universe reminding her she did not deserve Sam.

She took a deep breath outside the room. _Sam, I completely forgot about Valentine’s Day, and I don’t have anything for you, I’m sorry, I love you, I know I’m the worst._

She opened the door, but she didn’t recognize the room it led to. Everything was lit in a soft glow, music floating from the corner. Sam leapt to his feet from where he was sitting on the bed and handed her a glass. It smelled distinctly like peaches. She recognized Ray Charles’s voice singing one of her favorite songs and realized with a start what he’d done.

Sam smiled at her disbelief. “Happy Valentine’s Day, my love. I thought you might need a little piece of home.”

She blinked back tears. “How did you know?”

He shrugged. “Because I know you.”


End file.
